Government says they should’ve changed Auditor General Act sooner
Posted Jun 2, 2010 03:43:16 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Nova Scotia NDP government admits there is a long-standing issue around the protection of confidential documents which have been flagged by the Auditor General.
Minister of Finance Graham Steele says the red tape is a problem his government inherited and, although they started dealing with it, they’re not done yet.
“In the fall sitting of the legislature, we intend to introduce a legislative framework that will resolve the issues raised by the auditor general,” says Steele. “We will resolve this issue once and for all.”
Steele’s comments come after the Auditor General said Nova Scotia’s NDP government is skirting basic principals of public accountability and is veiled in secrecy.
“The government’s deliberate and pervasive policy of secrecy, consistently hiding information from the office of the auditor general and significantly weakening the overriding principal of accountability to the legislature,” said Jacques Lapointe Wednesday.
However, Steele says under the current law, the Auditor General’s powers don’t extend to solicitor-client privilege, pointing to a 2000 Supreme Court decision.
“With the greatest of respect to the Auditor General, on this particular point, we are puzzled by his statement that the law is different than what it is stated to be by a judge of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court,” said Steele.
He says in hindsight, the government should have revised the Auditor General Act sooner.
